The end of the 20th century will mark the beginning of a new era for the world trading system. More than 130 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will begin negotiations in 1999 on a broad range of subjects, including agriculture, services, intellectual property, and trade and...

On February 3, 1998, the Institute for International Economics held a conference on fast-track legislation, the proposed renewal of presidential authority to implement trade agreements. Congress granted the president fast-track authority from 1975 to 1993. Recently, however, that authority has...

President Franklin Roosevelt created the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) in 1934 to promote US trade in the midst of the Great Depression. At the outset, the Ex-Im Bank was instructed to supplement, not compete with, private sources of export finance. Historically, the Ex-Im...

Based on a conference held in September 2005 on the future of the International Monetary Fund, this important new book includes an overview of the challenges facing the IMF today. In addition, the authors offer a wide range of views on four areas: the international monetary system and the IMF...

The North Korean economy cannot sustain its population. Absent fundamental economic reforms, it will never be able to do so. Hence North Korea will require sizable external support for the foreseeable future. South Korea, China, Japan, and the United States have been willing to provide this...

The dollar rose by about 35 percent in real terms from 1995 through the end of 2001, supporting the booming US economy of the late 1990s but pushing the current account deficit to a record high of almost 5 percent of GDP. This special report provides alternative views of how large a dollar...

Based on a conference held in September 2005 on the future of the International Monetary Fund, this important new book includes an overview of the challenges facing the IMF today. In addition, the authors offer a wide range of views on four areas: the international monetary system and the IMF...

Japan is only one of many industrialized economies to suffer a financial crisis in the past 15 years, but it has suffered the most from its crisis--as measured in lost output and investment opportunities, and in the direct costs of clean-up. Comparing the response of Japanese policy in the 1990s...

The euro is the only major currency to be created in the 20th century; it now stands on the brink of becoming one of the world's two reserve currencies in the 21st century. The euro's use and development shape the entire agenda for ever-closer union in Europe and for transatlantic relations. As...

This Special Report looks at the long-run prospects for the international economic position of the United States, with particular focus on the likely evolution of the current account deficit and prospective foreign financing for it. Its goal is to provide a fundamental framework for the...